Syracuse Syracuse/Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- With two key players missing from practice Friday, Pittsburgh had trouble figuring out Syracuse's pressure defense. Not nearly as much trouble as the Panthers had once the game started.

Syracuse (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 Associated Press) turned to a full-court press to hold Pittsburgh scoreless for nearly eight minutes down the stretch and the Orangemen rallied from a 15-point deficit behind Preston Shumpert's 20 points to win 71-66 Saturday night.

Shumpert hit a layup and a 3-pointer during a decisive 13-0 run that helped the Orange (13-1, 2-0 Big East) open a 66-58 lead after they trailed 48-34 with 15 minutes remaining.

"The pressure worked really well," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We didn't anticipate using pressure, but we did and it worked. The pressure saved us because nothing else worked."

The Orangemen played much of the second half without a center as starter Billy Celuck sat out the first of a two-game suspension and Jeremy McNeil fouled out with about 11 minutes remaining.

"We weren't in the game early with Billy not here," Boeheim said. "With the full-court press, we went with a small lineup ... the press was a last-ditch effort.

"This game was one of the best comeback games I have ever seen while at Syracuse. They had us going. It was a significant win for us."

Pitt had 25 turnovers, 14 in the second half, and didn't score after Brandin Knight's three-point play with 8:18 remaining until Julius Page's free throw with 34 seconds left. Pitt's 58-53 lead turned into a 66-59 deficit during that span.

Damone Brown had 16 points and DeShaun Williams added 12 to overcome a 23-point game by Ricardo Greer, who led Pitt to a 33-18 first-half lead despite playing on a badly sprained left ankle.

Greer didn't practice Friday, and neither did center Isaac Hawkins, who was involved in a court case.

"We were hoping he would be there (in practice), but he never made it," Pitt coach Ben Howland said. "We couldn't practice against the press ... but if we had made our free throws, maybe it wouldn't have made any difference."

Williams and Brown each made eight of 10 free throws as Syracuse went 26-for-35 at the line, 14-for-20 in the second half, to Pitt's 9-for-21. The Panthers (9-4, 1-1) were 4-for-11 in the second half.

"Julius Page made 40 straight in practice," Howland said of his freshman guard, who was 2-for-6 at the line. "That is inexcusable. It's something we've been working on and I guess we will have to keep working on."

Greer, held to eight points in a 62-51 victory Wednesday night against Miami partly because of the ankle injury, had scored nine points on three consecutive possessions -- two 3-pointers and a three-point play -- to put Pitt up 46-32 with 16:03 remaining.

"But we didn't respond to the press," Greer said. "We weren't executing our passes. The 25 turnovers really hurt us."

The Orangemen, playing their first road game outside the Carrier Dome except for the Great Alaska Shootout, then went on a 12-2 run to whittle the lead to 52-49 on Allen Griffin's dunk with 10 minutes remaining.

Syracuse got to within one point several times, then took its first lead since the opening minute on Griffin's layup with 3:42 remaining.

Brown then scored ahead of Shumpert's 3-pointer and Williams' two free throws to close out the 13-0 run.

Syracuse beat the Panthers for the sixth consecutive time overall and the eighth in a row in Pittsburgh, where Pitt hasn't beaten the Orange since Jan. 8, 1992.

Syracuse is 27-8 against Pitt in Big East play. Pitt was playing the first of five consecutive games against Top 25 teams.

ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Syracuse Clubhouse

Pittsburgh Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Preston Shumpert makes the steal and runs the floor for a Syracuse score.
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Brandon Knight drives the lane for a Panthers' hoop.
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Zelimir Stevanovic penatrates and dishes to Ricardo Greer for a hoop and the foul.
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Isaac Hawkins takes the feed from Julius Page for the jam.
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DeShaun Williams takes it to the hoop through the Pittsburgh defense.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1